Lind comes off 40-man roster so Jays can add a reliever

The Sports Xchange

The SportsXchange•June 1, 2012

When first baseman Adam Lind was sent to Class AAA Las Vegas on May 17, he was assigned on option. But now he is off the Toronto Blue Jays' 40-man roster, assigned outright to Las Vegas on Thursday after clearing waivers. The move was made to clear a spot for right-handed pitcher Robert Coello, who is being called up to provide bullpen insurance. The Blue Jays bullpen was overworked on a 1-5 trip, so the team will enter a three-game weekend series against Red Sox with eight relievers available. Meanwhile, Lind will continue to get his hitting problems righted, which is why he was sent to Las Vegas in the first place. "We needed a spot on the 40, so we put him on waivers a few days ago, he cleared, and we just cleared up a spot," general manager Alex Anthopoulos said in a conference call Thursday afternoon. "Whenever he finds his way back here, we'll just clear a spot again." In his first 11 games with Las Vegas, Lind was batting .386 with three home runs and 13 RBI. He had hit .186 with three homers and 11 RBI in 24 games with Toronto. Anthopoulos said the club had a scout watch Lind this week. "He's really starting to come around," Anthopoulos said. "We talked to Adam (on Thursday), he thinks his timing is a lot better and he has made a lot of changes and adjustments and is on the right path. Hopefully he'll find his way back here soon." Left-hander Aaron Laffey was optioned to Las Vegas to create a spot on the 25-man roster for Coello. Laffey completed his second short stint with Toronto and still has not appeared in a game with the major league team. He was 2-5 with a 4.88 ERA in nine starts at Las Vegas. Anthopoulos said that he wanted to get Laffey back into the rotation at Las Vegas. "The longer he sat here, the further beyond he would have been to be a starter option for us down the road," the GM said.